How to Train for Your First Ultra Marathon

By Dave Reid | For Active.com

People already think you're crazy for running marathons, and now you tell them you want to run an ultra. An ultra marathon is defined as anything longer than a marathon, although many ultra runners would argue the distance starts at 50K and that timed events don't count.

Popular Activities Near You

Ashburn, VA

The Preparation

1. Enter and pay for your ultra. Give yourself at least three months to prepare. If you've already signed up for the race, that's a great motivator.

2. Lose weight. For every pound you lose, you can gain about two minutes in an ultra (if you are lean, skip to the next step). Imagine running 50K while carrying a 10 to 20 pound weight. You can train harder without those extra pounds.

3. Do back-to-back long runs once a week. Estimate your time for finishing the ultra and build up to running those total hours over two days. You want to run the full distance (combining back-to-back days) at least three or four times before the race.

For example, if you think you will finish in six hours, run three hours on Saturday and three hours on Sunday. Or four hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday. Or five hours and one hour. Mix it up.

4. Practice your nutrition during training and find out what works best for you. Quick tip: Start drinking before you get thirsty.

5. Practice running efficiently, with as little wasted motion as possible. Try to keep your head as still as possible and raise your feet as little as necessary. However, if the trail is extremely technical, it may be necessary to raise your feet quite a bit to avoid stumbling and tripping. Try to always run quietly.

6. Find socks, clothes and shoes that you lovefor training and racing. You want to be comfortable. Buy multiple pairs, because you can be sure they will be discontinued.

7. Train on the terrain you'll be racing. If it's a hilly technical trail, train on hilly technical trails. If it's a flat ultra on pavement, train on that at least some of the time. Do a 10K tempo run once a week at a faster pace. Run hills once a week to get strong.

8. If you need them, take recovery days. A typical week could be:

Monday - Off Tuesday - 10K tempo Wednesday - Off Thursday - 1 hour hill workout Friday - Off Saturday - 3 hour long run Sunday - 3 hour long run (or a four hour and two hour, or five hour and one hour)

Let's say your ultra is at the end of June. You want to be able to run your distance, over two days, by the end of April. Give yourself time to work up to that.

In May, you can run the distance three times and take it easy on the last weekend. In June, you can run it the first two weekends, taper the third weekend and run your ultra the fourth weekend.

ACTIVE.com is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.

Frequently Asked Questions

ACTIVE Advantage is the premium membership program of ACTIVE, designed to support and encourage your active lifestyle by providing exclusive discounts on thousands of activities on ACTIVE. No matter what your passions are, it is our mission to make it cheaper and easier for you to pursue the activities you love.

The 30-day trial of the ACTIVE Advantage membership allows you to check out the program for yourself before starting a full annual membership. During this trial period you have full access to member benefits, including all ACTIVE registration discounts, access to free event entries, gear discounts and more. If you decide during the trial period that you don't want to continue the membership, just let us know. Otherwise, at the end of your 30 day trial we will extend your member benefits for a full year at the current annual membership fee.

If you sign up for the 30-day ACTIVE Advantage trial membership you'll receive full access to all member benefits during your trial period. When the 30 days of the trial are up, your benefits will automatically upgrade to the annual membership which currently costs $64.95 per year. That's less than $6 per month to enjoy the program all year round.

Members can receive discounts when registering for events on ACTIVE.com.

Simply follow the steps below to redeem your discount

Step 1: Find an event on ACTIVE and login. Use the ACTIVE directory to find an event. Click the login button in the upper right corner of the event details page. You will be re-directed to a login screen. After logging in, you will be sent back to the event details page.

Step 2: Click the "Register Now" button to sign up for the event. Complete all required registration fields and proceed to payment screen. When logged in as an Advantage member, your discount will automatically apply at the end of registration.

Step 3: Submit registration and receive discount. The discount amount will display in your shopping cart and will be deducted from your registration fees. The registration discount will vary and is excluded from some events. If the discount does not appear in your shopping cart, the event is not eligible.